Competencies and development of competency framework for organization The greatest strength of an organization, and the key to its success, is the quality of its employees and their ability to thrive and fulfill their potential while delivering the output expected from them. The competency framework enables the organization to clarify expectations and to set standards for performance throughout the organization. It is a guide to help management and the employees to understand the behaviours and skills expected of them and what they are to strive for achieving them. The concept of competencies emerged during the early 1980s as a response to the organizational changes. This concept drives the organization towards higher performance levels. During the subsequent decades, competency frameworks have become an increasingly accepted part of modern HR (human resource) practice in the organizations. Competencies A competency is considered to be a cluster of related knowledge, skills, abilities, and characteristics which are related to the performance of a significant aspect of the practice of a profession. The term ‘competency’ is usually defined as a combination of skills, attributes and behaviours which are directly related to the performance on the job. They are important for all the employees regardless of occupation, function, or level. Competencies normally focus on the personal attributes or inputs of employees in the organization. They are the behaviours (and technical attributes where appropriate) which employees are to have, or are to acquire, for their effective performance at work. Competencies are broader concepts which encompass demonstrable performance outputs as well as behaviour inputs, and relate to a system or set of minimum standards required for the performance at the work. Competencies are means to provide organizational focus, as building blocks for human resource systems, and as methods for certifying attainment of various...